Let’s face it, debt isn’t a financial problem, it’s a behavior problem. So becoming debt-free takes more than sound financial strategies. It takes a mindset shift that establishes new wealth-building habits. If you have a number of debts, most financial experts will advise you to start paying off the highest-interest debt first. Let’s say you have a $12,000 credit card balance at 18%, a $4,000 personal loan at 13%, and an $8,000 car loan at 6%. Financially, it makes sense to start paying down your credit card first. However, making relatively small payments towards a large balance owing can leave you feeling discouraged and ready to give up. That’s why it’s important to make minimum payments on all your other lower-interest debts so you can channel the largest payment possible towards the highest-interest debt. Not only will this save you the maximum amount of interest, it will also speed up the time it takes to pay off the most-expensive debt. Once it’s paid off, start making the largest payment possible towards the next most-expensive debt. The best way to motivate yourself to pay off debts is to save maximum interest by focusing your payments (like a laser beam) on the highest-interest debts first, then moving on to the next. Seek progress, not perfection. Remember, slow and steady wins the race. Keep this up, and one day you’ll be completely debt free!

Economists have been warning us for years that our record-low mortgage rates would eventually have to start rising. While a stubbornly slow economic recovery has delayed the onset of higher rates, will 2015 be the year it finally happens? Maybe not!The US economy has really picked up speed in the past year, allowing the Federal Reserve to wind down its bond-buying stimulus program. Sure, there are still storm clouds ahead: unrest in Ukraine and the Middle East, slow growth in Japan and Europe, and less rapid growth in China. But barring any major new crises, economists feel that rates may not start rising until 2016.